Boysie

We've been up since 6am as my cocker spaniel, Boysie, was yelping and seemed really confused. He was slipping all over the place and bumping into everything. So my whole family took him to the emergency vet- it turned out he had some kind of tumor and needed to be put down. It was very emotional. I've had Boysie since he was a puppy (14 years ago- he was very old!). My dad got him for me after my mum passed away, so we've been through quite a lot together.

He was a lovely dog- he had the sweetest temperament and was very soppy. He was also afraid of EVERYTHING (lightning, strangers, cars, the little squeakers inside dog toys...). Whenever I was upset as a kid I used to sit under the table with him and and hug him- it was the only thing that made me feel better! It was really sad coming home and not hear his feet padding through the kitchen coming to greet us. Still, at least he's not in pain now.

Boysie 1994-2008

Yes, he really wasn't the bravest of dogs. But we loved him very, very much.

This is my wish for you...

"Comfort on difficult days,

Smiles when sadness intrudes,

Rainbows to follow the clouds,

Laughter to kiss your lips,

Sunsets to warm your heart,

Hugs when spirits sag,

Beauty for your eyes to see,

Friendships to brighten your being,

Faith so that you can believe,

Confidence for when you doubt,

Courage to know yourself,

Patience to accept the truth,

Love to complete your life.” - Anonymous

A close friend of mine from uni gave this quote to me (as part of a photo in a frame) on our last day at Durham, and I just found it under my bed. I thought it would be nice to share it.

So, last weekend at Carus we looked at influences, and how we influence the people around us. We took it in turns to share with each other a person or group of people we have influence on. Then somebody from the group would pray for that person. Now, I chose my place of work as somewhere where I feel I should have influence, but find it hard with so many restrictions in place to really talk about my faith and what I believe in. So somebody else prayed about that for me, and then we moved onto the next person and I kinda forgot about it all. Until the very next day, when I got to work and found a very excited little girl from my class and her mum waiting for me. "WE SAW YOU IN THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW!" they exclaimed as I got there, and they proceeded to ask me all sorts of questions about the army. Her mum then passed the headmaster and mentioned to him about seeing me, and he came up to me asking if I'd do a whole school assembly about the Salvation Army and what it was all about! Which took me completely by surprise, as our assemblies are nothing like that usually. And although my close friends at work know where I go every Sunday, most of the school certainly don't. So I'm really looking forward to that.

It was only on the way home that I started thinking about the day before and remembered that prayer. And it made me wonder whether sometimes prayers are answered in such unexpected ways that it completely goes unnoticed. Maybe I need to open my eyes more to what's going on around me...

Drenched

So, I eventually got hold of a proper hat. Which is just as well, as yesterday was the Lord Mayor's show. And the weather forecast?

Saturday





heavy rain

Great. Still, not to be put off, the Household Troops and the Hadleigh Timbrels (guess which group I belong to...) set off at 6.30am (seriously, who DOES that?!) and made our way to London. We had an hour of waiting around in a damp, underground car park, followed by an hour of waiting in the rain, but once the parade got going it was really good! Despite the torrential downpours there was an excellent turnout and the crowd were brilliant, cheering and clapping and encouraging us on through the rain. I felt so proud to be part of it all, especially hearing people saying things like 'Oh, look! It's the Salvation Army! HOORAY!!!'

However, there's only so much freezing, heavy rain you can take before your morale starts to go slightly, and as we made our way to Embankment to recommence the march after lunch, some soldiers (of the non-Salvation Army variety) stopped a couple of us and said 'You've lost it. You've lost it, haven't you...' before proceeding with a beautiful rendition of 'You've lost that loving feeling, woooah that lovin' feelin'...'. On spotting our tambourines, this was then followed by various chants of 'GO ON, SHAKE IT! SHAKE IT BABY!' (I did threaten them with 'I'm gonna shake you in a minute', but I'm not sure they heard it, as I said it in my head.) Heather and I just ignored them and carried on with our little game 'See Who Can Hold The Most Rain In Their Hat Without Spilling Any'. I won.

Oh, by the way, if you're reading this and don't have a clue what a timbrel is, then click here. I probably should have explained that at the beginning.

Anyway, imagine how excited we were when somebody sent a text saying they saw us on television! Fantastic. Totally worth getting soaked. Then imagine the slight disappointment when I got home, eagerly put the recording on and saw this (skip to 0:47):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00fh4xq

I was just off to the left. Still, we got a mention and everything- pretty cool, eh?

I'm still not a fan of the navy felt hats though. I ended up with navy dye running all down my face for the duration of the parade. Did I mention it rained?

My New Hat (A blog topic suggested by John...)

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to Trade to buy myself a new one of these for the Lord Mayor's Show:

I hate these hats. With a passion.

Anyway, by the time I got to London it was closed, so I bought myself this hat instead:

But now I'm not sure how I feel about it. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't go with my uniform.

And that is the story of my new hat.

Don't worry, I'm still here...

Half term is pretty much over. Rubbish. I know I haven't posted for a little while, but there have been lots of things going on, such as...

Fajita night- My teacher friends and I had a little dinner party. Here's a lovely photo of my friend Claire after a couple of glasses of Diet Coke:

A trip to Bristol to visit Glyn's brother- They have the poshest cinema and shopping complex there I've ever seen. Check this out... (The cinema has a bar and a restaurant!)

(Next time, if we save up, we might even be able to see a film there.)

Day in London with people from uni- Always great to catch up with these girls. We don't do it enough...

Reading about the Lego man who was washed up on Brighton beach:

How funny was that? If you haven't heard about it, read here.

Attending the annual Festival of Remembrance- If I haven't dragged you along to one of these, count yourself lucky. This ceremony is a good three hours long without a break... (Think how you felt after watching Titanic at the cinema. But with less popcorn.) Although I have to say, the actual ceremony and the RAF band and the international solo violinist and the singing company and the band AND the songsters were all very good in their own right, and the whole thing was very well done. But an interval would be nice. Especially when you're stuck outside in the foyer because there's no room for you in the main hall. Heather was very impressed by Winston Churchill's words of wisdom (somehow she hadn't heard them before), and felt very proud to be British:

So that's what's been going on in my life lately. Next weekend I'll be doing my first ever Lord Mayor's show- watch this space!